CONTACT:

Peter J. Murphy
President & CEO
(978) 946-2564

NASDAQ SYMBOL "PRLX"

                            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

           PARLEX CORPORATION WINS MAJOR WIRELESS COMPONENT ORDER


METHUEN, MASSACHUSETTS, May 12, 2000 - Parlex Corporation has received a
purchase order to provide double-sided flexible circuits for a high volume
cellular phone application. The award, for the initial production, is
valued at $6.1 million. Volume production shipments are expected to
commence in August and continue into early 2001.

Peter J. Murphy, president and chief executive officer, stated, ``This is
our second major cellular purchase order in the past two months. These
orders, along with our networking business, make telecommunications our
largest and fastest growing market segment. Our competitive edge on the
latest award was PALFlex, a patented process used for high volume, low
cost, double-sided circuitry. Developed originally for automotive
electronics, PALFlex is becoming the solution of choice for a variety of
applications.

Parlex Corporation is a leading provider of flexible interconnect solutions
to the automotive, telecommunications and networking, diversified
electronics, aerospace and computer markets. The Company operates seven
manufacturing facilities, which are located in Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, California, Rhode Island, China, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

The foregoing contains certain forward-looking statements. The Company's
actual results of operations may differ significantly from those
contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various
factors beyond its control, including economic conditions in the
electronics industry, particularly in the principal industry sectors served
by the Company, changes in customer requirements and in the volume of sales
to principal customers, competition and technological change. For a
detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer
to Parlex's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.